Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts

The Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Collection contains
images of 21 unbound manuscript items and 10 bound manuscript
items from the Special Collections of the University of Vermont, Bailey/Howe
Library. These manuscripts were written in various locations across Europe
and the Middle East, from early in the 12th century to the 17th century C.E.

Many of the texts are religious in nature. There are examples from Vulgate
Bibles, the Koran, liturgical books, books of private devotion, handbooks
for confessors, and a book of church law. Other texts include works by
Cicero, Terence, Eberhard Hicfelt, and Ascanio Savorgnano; and contain
topical works on medicinal herbs, the island of Cyprus, and the laws of
Carpeneto, Italy. The collection also includes a contract and a will, both
from Italy.

These beautiful books are often heavily illustrated or
decorated, and provide examples of a wide range of scripts, both Gothic and
later varieties. Most of the manuscripts are written on parchment, but
several are made of paper, including the oldest item, a Koran leaf with a
supplied date of 1106. The scope of the collection will facilitate studies
of book history, codicology, paleography, and Medieval and Renaissance
history.